


The New Trickster

by TardisIsTheOnlyWayToTravel



Series: There Are Monsters There Are Angels [3]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: AU, Family, Gen, Tricksters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-27
Updated: 2014-11-27
Packaged: 2018-02-27 04:38:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2679428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TardisIsTheOnlyWayToTravel/pseuds/TardisIsTheOnlyWayToTravel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's a new trickster in town, and Gabriel decides to investigate. Several months later, so do the boys.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

** The New Trickster **   
** Chapter One **

Lucifer hadn’t been free all that long when Gabriel heard about the new Trickster.

New Tricksters popped up all the time, but this one was different. According to the grapevine, this one was calling himself Lucifer, and claiming to be the fallen archangel himself.

Gabriel choked on his drink when he heard about it.

Gabriel didn’t for one moment believe it was really him. Come on: Lucifer, lowering himself to the status of a petty Trickster when he was supposed to be carrying out the prophesied Apocalypse? Sure, like _that_ was in any way believable. 

The thing was, if Lucifer found out that there was some Trickster going around using his name, pretending to be him? There’d be hell to pay – literally. So Gabriel figured he’d visit the new guy, drop a few words of warning in his ear… you know. It was the neighbourly thing to do. Tricksters gotta stick together, right?

Things did not go as planned.

The Trickster network was buzzing with gossip about the new guy, so it wasn’t that hard to track him down. Gabriel ran him to ground in a small town in Tennessee, going after a complete slimeball – if ever a guy deserved to have a Trickster go after him, it was definitely that waste of existence.

Gabriel strolled in as the new Trickster finished off his victim, not really paying all that much attention to the new guy – sure, he had flair and audacity, but Gabriel just planned to deliver his warning and move on to more entertaining pursuits.

“Sooooo, you’re the new guy,” Gabriel drawled, sauntering over to examine the corpse without bothering to even glance at the other Trickster. Gabriel liked to make a certain impression, and insouciance was part of it. “You’re getting quite the reputation among the Trickster community, I’ve got to say. Calling yourself Lucifer, though – anyone tell you that’s kinda suicidal of you?”

“I’m really not worried,” said the new guy smoothly, and Gabriel finally looked up and met the new guy’s eyes.

There was a saying about how the eyes were the window to the soul, and there was a certain amount of truth to it. But when Gabriel met the new guy’s eyes, he didn’t sense a soul, or magic: he sensed _Grace._ An angel’s Grace, powerful and oh-so-very _familiar_.

The new Trickster wasn’t a Trickster. The new Trickster was Lucifer himself.

“Oh, _crap_ ,” Gabriel swore.

Lucifer smiled, all urbane amusement, and dammit, what the hell was he up to, playing at being a Trickster?!

“I take it you just had an epiphany,” Lucifer said nonchalantly.

“You’re _Lucifer!_ ” Gabriel blurted. “The archangel!” 

Lucifer inclined his head, a smile playing about his lips.

“Guilty.”

“But – what happened to ending the world, your foretold battle with Michael?” Gabriel asked, helplessly off-balance.

Lucifer gave a small shrug.

“Michael and I talked things out, and in the end, we decided to play a different game than the one that was chosen for us,” he said, like it was no big deal.

“So now you’re just, what, going around pretending to be a Trickster?” Gabriel exclaimed.

Lucifer raised one eyebrow.

“Why not? After all, you made the same choice – _Gabriel_.”

Gabriel blanched.

“Did you think I wouldn’t notice?” Lucifer asked curiously, circling him. “Come now, little brother. You’re forgetting who taught you all your tricks.”

There was a short silence. Gabriel swallowed.

“So what now?” he asked after a moment, aiming for casual, but not quite managing it.

Lucifer smiled. It was unexpectedly fond.

“We’ve both decided to take up roles as Tricksters, Gabriel. Perhaps…” Lucifer tilted his head. “How do you feel about a collaboration…?”

Despite every instinct he had telling him to flee, Gabriel stayed where he was, and listened…


	2. Chapter 2

** The New Trickster **   
** Chapter Two **

Six months after Dean became Michael again, Michael and Sam were on a hunt when they tangled with a Trickster.

“Hey boys,” said the Trickster. Michael squinted at him. The Trickster felt oddly familiar, but Michael couldn’t put his finger on why.

“You!” Sam exclaimed, his expression morphing into rage.

“Yup, it’s me,” the Trickster agreed, his eyes moving onto Michael. He stared for a long moment.

“What?” Michael asked, when the Trickster did nothing but stare.

“Oh, nothing.” The Trickster waved a hand. “Just, long time no see, bro.” And with a grin, he dropped the Trickster illusion, allowing his Grace to be sensed.

“ _Gabriel?_ ” Michael said in disbelief.

“ _What?_ ” Sam spluttered.

“ _You’re_ the Trickster responsible for this?” Michael asked, unable to believe it. “This is where you’ve been, all this time?”

“So I like it down here,” Gabriel shrugged. “And much as I’d like to take all the credit, this wasn’t all just me.”

“Then who…” Michael put two and two together. “ _No_.”

“Michael, Sam, good to see you,” a voice said warmly from behind them. Sam yelped and whirled, already firing on the new arrival.

Lucifer looked at him in deep reproach.

“Was that really necessary, Sam?” he asked. With a flick of Lucifer’s fingers his shirt was as good as new, the blood and bullet-holes gone. “I have no intention of doing you harm.”

“Hey.” Michael clapped Sam on the shoulder. “It’s cool, dude. I won’t let him do anything to you, promise. Either of them,” he added belatedly, remembering Sam’s reaction to seeing Gabriel.

“Nice to see you trust us, Mikey,” Gabriel commented.

“Don’t call me Mikey,” Michael ordered in disgust. Gabriel and Lucifer exchanged mischievous smiles, and no. This wasn’t happening. “Seriously? The two of you are tag-teaming Tricksters, now?”

“It’s been surprisingly interesting,” said Lucifer, smiling, and if that wasn’t scary Michael didn’t know what was. “I admit, punishing those who deserve it has a certain… appeal.”

“He’s got a real flair for it,” Gabriel put in, grinning. “You wouldn’t believe some of the ideas he’s got.”

“I really would,” said Michael. “This is really where you went, after you left Heaven? You came to Earth and became a _Trickster?_ ”

“Sure,” said Gabriel cheerfully. He was clearly enjoying Michael’s incredulity. “I mean, why not? It was my job as the Angel of Judgement to punish the wicked anyway, right? And this way is a lot of fun.” 

Michael looked between Gabriel and Lucifer. Both of them were looking amused.

“Okay,” he said finally. “I mean, what the hell, but okay. You want to explain why Sam reacted the way he did?”

“How should I know?” Gabriel asked reasonably, at the same time as Sam exclaimed, “He trapped me in a time loop!”

Michael raised an eyebrow and stared at Gabriel.

“A time loop?”

Gabriel shrugged.

“I was trying to teach him a lesson about when to give up,” he explained. “Didn’t work. Your little human brother here’s stubborn as hell. If he hadn’t been so determined to do what the angels told him, maybe he wouldn’t have freed Lucifer. Ironic, isn’t it?”

Sam snarled, and Michael put a restraining hand on his shoulder.

“They would have found a way to make him do it anyway,” said Michael. “You know that. If you’d really wanted to interfere, you would have stepped in and told him the truth, not played some cryptic game with time loops.” He was, Michael realised, angry about this. “But taking a personal risk wasn’t your style, was it?”

Gabriel’s face twisted into an ugly expression.

“ _Listen_ , Michael–” he began, taking an aggressive step forward. 

It was Lucifer who cleared his throat, interrupting the impending fight.

“ _Gentlemen._ ” That one word, delivered with a weight of meaning, was enough to attract everyone’s attention. “Come now. Gabriel. Michael. Hasn’t it all worked out for the best? After all, I agreed to abandon the apocalypse, Michael is himself again, and Sam is fine. I consider that a good outcome, don’t you?”

“I’m no more a coward than _he_ is,” Gabriel snapped, jerking his head in Michael’s direction. “I mean, _I’m_ not the one who ripped out my Grace.”

“No, you just left home and left your responsibilities behind,” Michael sniped back. Gabriel bristled.

“You think you can judge me?”

“Yeah, I do,” Michael replied. But then he sighed, and decided that it really wasn’t worth fighting with his younger brother, not when he’d only just found him again. “Still, Lucifer’s right. It all turned out okay, I guess.”

Gabriel gave him the evil eye.

“I still say you can’t talk,” he muttered. “But fine. I guess things could be worse.” 

Michael glanced at Sam, who was looking freaked-out. He realised belatedly that both he and Gabriel had been radiating power during their little spat.

“Um,” said Michael. “Sam?”

“I might, uh, go back to the car,” said Sam, still looking unnerved. “Let you guys… catch up.”

Michael gave him a scrutinising look, but besides the freaked-out expression, Sam seemed fine. He’d probably be back to normal as soon as he was away from the other archangels, Michael judged.

“Sure,” Michael said. “I’ll see you later, Sam.”

Sam gave a strained smile.

“Right,” he said. “And uh, I guess that since we’ve found out who was responsible, that puts an end to our hunt, right?” His tone was faintly accusing, and it was clear that he wasn’t pleased at what Michael’s brothers had been up to.

Well, Michael wasn’t either, really – he _hunted_ creatures that did the kind of stuff they did – but little brothers, man. What could you do? Besides, it was a hell of a lot better than the two of them teaming up to destroy the Earth.

“Yeah,” was all Michael said, ignoring the unspoken accusation. “Guess it does.”

“Right,” Sam said again. “Later, Dean.” He turned and left, leaving Michael alone with his angelic brothers.

“Thanks for freaking Sam out, dude,” Michael said irritably, once Sam was gone.

“ _Moi?_ ” Gabriel raised an eyebrow, radiating so much innocence that Michael could have believed him capable of anything.

“Gabriel,” Lucifer said, his tone serene, but vaguely reprimanding. Gabriel glanced at him, and made a face.

“Aw, come on,” he said. “The kid was asking for it, okay. Look, I won’t mess with him any more than I do anyone else, but I’m not going to apologise for what I did already. Besides, it’s in the past, right?”

Michael gave him a long look, but slowly nodded.

“Fine. As long as you don’t pick on him again. That goes for you too,” he added to Lucifer, who gave Michael a faintly injured look that didn’t fool Michael at all.

“Michael. I promised to leave him alone,” Lucifer chided.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m just making sure you haven’t forgotten,” said Michael. “So. You two. Tricksters, huh? How’s that working out?”

“ _Fantastic_ ,” said Gabriel, with far too much glee. “Everyone else is scared stiff of him, even the pagans.”

“Not all of them,” said Lucifer, faintly amused. “That fetching lady-friend of yours seemed willing enough to go toe-to-toe with me, if I felt so inclined.”

“Yeah, well, _Kali_ ,” said Gabriel, rolling his eyes. “Goddess of Death and Destruction, you know? Nothing fazes her.” His tone was distinctly admiring.

“Kali?” Michael repeated. _Lady-friend?_

“Uh-huh. We had a thing, once. Chick was all hands.” Gabriel waggled his eyebrows outrageously.

Michael resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. He told himself that it was no longer his job to care what his brother got up to, as long as Gabriel wasn’t causing trouble.

“Dude, TMI,” he groaned. “Gabriel, I could do without the mental images.”

“I’m glad you agree with me,” said Lucifer. “I feel much the same way. Unfortunately, Gabriel insists on oversharing.”

Gabriel grinned, and snapped up a candy bar.

“Come on, you guys love me.”

“You’re a brat, you know that, right?” said Michael. 

“Whatever,” said Gabriel. “Hey, what do you guys say we go hit up a candy store? There’s this place with a chocolate replica of the _Venus de Milo_. Now that’s class.”

Michael and Lucifer exchanged glances.

“I know,” said Lucifer, understanding Michael’s feelings perfectly. “But it’s the way he is.”

Michael gave up on repressing his grin, and laughed.

“Yeah, okay,” he said. “Let’s go check out the chocolate _Venus de Milo._ What the hell. Why not?”

It had been ages since he’d last seen Gabriel, and he was interested in getting to know his little brother all over again, plus it had been six months since he’d last seen Lucifer. Why not spend an hour or two hanging out with them?

“Awesome,” said Gabriel happily, and snapped his fingers. A moment later the three archangels were elsewhere.

They spent a surprisingly-relaxed afternoon together, enjoying chocolate and each others’ company. The other two told Michael stories of their time as Tricksters, while Michael regaled with stories of his time hunting.

The three of them were sitting at a table, chatting, when they were suddenly no longer alone.

“Michael,” said Castiel, and his eyes widened as he noticed the other two archangels. “I didn’t mean to interrupt. I can–”

“Whoa, whoa, Cas, wait up,” Michael interrupted. “Relax. It’s fine. Pull up a chair.”

Darting wary glances at Lucifer and Gabriel, Castiel took the empty seat beside Michael. The other two archangels eyed the new arrival with interest.

“Hey there, kid,” said Gabriel cheerfully. “Which one are you, huh?”

“Castiel,” said Castiel, sitting stiffly in his seat.

“You’re the one who rescued Michael, when he was still Dean Winchester,” Lucifer observed, eyeing Castiel with interest.

“Yes,” said Castiel briefly.

“You must be the younger brother Michael mentioned last time we met,” said Lucifer, smiling benignly. “He said that he intended on teaching you a few things about Earth, I believe.”

Castiel gave a short nod, and didn’t answer.

“Not exactly communicative, are you?” Gabriel commented. “Here, have a hot chocolate.”

Gabriel snapped up a mug of hot chocolate like the ones that the three archangels had, and pushed it in Castiel’s direction.

“Go on, Cas,” said Michael, grinning. “Try it.”

With Michael’s encouragement, Castiel picked up the mug and took a cautious sip. His eyes went huge, and he looked slightly overwhelmed.

“And another angel is converted to the joys of chocolate!” Gabriel said happily. “Pretty good stuff, right?”

Castiel swallowed his mouthful of hot chocolate.

“Indeed.”

“It’s good to see you, Cas,” said Michael, smiling. “Me and Lucifer and Gabriel were just catching up.”

“I see,” said Castiel. His gaze softened slightly as he looked at Michael’s relaxed smile. “You appear to be enjoying yourself.” He looked at Lucifer. “I am glad that Michael convinced you not to destroy the world.”

Lucifer gave a loose shrug.

“Disappointing Heaven has always been one of my hobbies,” he said casually.

Michael laughed at that. Lucifer smirked at him, and Michael grinned back. It felt good, the two of them getting along for the first time in so long.

“I should probably get back to Sam,” said Michael, getting to his feet. “He’s going to bitch at me about you two as it is.”

“We should do this again sometime,” said Gabriel. “You, me, Luci, the rookie here, and this chocolate café.”

“This time next month, perhaps?” Lucifer suggested.

Michael considered for a moment. Then he shrugged, and smiled.

“What the hell,” he said. “Why not. This time next month it is.”

* * *

Sam, as predicted, started bitching pretty much as soon as Michael tracked him down.

“They’re _Tricksters_ , Dean!” he said heatedly.

“You think I don’t know that, Sam?” Michael shot back. “But it’s a damn sight better than the two of them destroying the world, don’t you think? At least this way they only go after people who deserve it.”

“Dean–”

“Besides,” Michael said, a little more quietly, but just as firmly, “They’re my _brothers_ , Sam. You think I’m going to just desert them because of their choices? Maybe I would have once, but I’m not that guy anymore. All annoying little brothers are stuck with me.”

Sam took a deep, exasperated breath, his mingled expression both frustrated and pleased.

“I’m glad, Dean,” he said. “But what, you’re just going to turn a blind eye to what they’re up to?”

“I’m their brother, not their keeper, Sammy,” Michael pointed out. “Short of beating the shit out of them there’s not much I could do. And trying would probably start another war. Not that I want to do it anyway.”

Sam finally sighed, and slumped a bit.

“Fine,” he said. “Just… keep those two away from me. We don’t exactly have a good history.”

“Both of them have agreed to leave you alone,” Michael told him. “If either of them breaks their word, just tell me, and I’ll deal with it.”

“Yeah.” Sam managed a faint smile. “I guess you would.”

“Damn straight,” Michael agreed.

“It still amazes me sometimes that you’re who you are, you know,” said Sam. “Michael the archangel, the whole deal. I’m glad you’re not like the others, Dean.” His expression lightened a little. “For one thing, seeing other angels with your obsession with the car would be disturbing.”

“Bitch,” Michael retorted fondly. Sam just smirked at him, and said, “Jerk.”

Michael was glad that Sam had gotten off his case about his brothers. He decided not to mention the fact that he would be meeting with them again next month; Sam probably wouldn’t take that too well.

Things still weren’t perfect between him and Sam, but both of them were trying to bridge the gulf between them. Michael had learnt a lot more about the current day, and took great delight in passing on his knowledge to Castiel, who knew even less about current-day Earth than Michael did. Sam had gotten used to Castiel hanging around, and even warmed up to him a little. Michael counted that as progress, and figured it was best not to push Sam too far by trying to make him accept Gabriel and Lucifer.

Maybe Sam never would, or maybe he might change his mind over time. Michael didn’t know. But for the moment, he was happy with the way things were – between him and Sam, and between him and his other closest brothers. Earth was safe, everyone was more-or-less getting along, and Michael was content.

It was a good feeling.


End file.
